In late October Juche 76 (1987), Chairman Kim Jong Il said about the famous chestnut of our country while having a friendly talk with officials.

   The Chairman said that the chestnut is a famous local product of our country, and our people are fond of chestnut, especially the roast chestnut from the olden times.

   Chestnut trees grow in almost all regions of the country except in the relatively cold northern regions, and their nuts have been regarded as one of the famous specialties from olden times because of their stout and tasty shape as well as nutritional value. In particular, the roast ones taste better than raw or boiled ones, and can be easily peeled off providing more pleasure. Old sayings like “Eat chestnut rather than taffy” and “Taffy seller sits the other way round if the chestnut seller sits next” do well describe about the popularity and good taste of the roast chestnut.

   However, it had been somewhat a rarity for people living in cities where there are no chestnut trees, especially in big cities like Pyongyang.

   The Chairman said that it is difficult to find stalls selling roast chestnut in the streets even in its season. He earnestly said that if our officials paid a little more attention to such issues, the citizens of Pyongyang would taste and enjoy roast chestnut at least in autumn, the season of chestnut.

   He instructed officials that selling chestnut to Pyongyang citizens should be made a custom.

   To date, every autumn and winter, citizens of Pyongyang relish the taste of roast chestnut at chestnut stalls, feeling the love and benevolence of the Chairman.